Laminated glass is used in a variety of industrial and consumer applications where high transparency, protection, and safety are of primary importance. For example, laminated glass is widely used in the automotive, electronic, appliance, construction, and aerospace industries.
Laminated glass typically consists of two or more sheets of glass and an adhesive interlayer between adjacent sheets. The interlayer material is commonly a thermoplastic or thermosetting adhesive. Furthermore, the adhesive may be an organic adhesive such as polyvinylbutyral or an inorganic adhesive such as an alkali metal silicate. Compared with laminated glass comprising an organic polymer interlayer, laminated glass comprising an alkali metal silicate interlayer offers the advantages of low flammability and high char yield. Such laminates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,837 to Gaeth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,273 to Egli et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,606 to Gelderie et al.; Great Britain Patent No. 1,290,699; Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8067538 A to Motoharu et al.; and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7206482 A to Yoshimi et al.
Although laminated glass comprising an alkali metal silicate interlayer has low flammability and high char yield, it typically has low impact resistance compared with laminated glass having an organic polymer interlayer. Consequently, there is a need for a laminated glass having low flammability, high char yield, and high impact resistance.